Our 20 favorite Xbox One games that you can play right now

The start of the current console generation was not kind to Microsoft. As PlayStation 4 sales rapidly outpaced the Xbox One, it seemed as if the console might be dead on arrival. After a rough few years, the Xbox One has endured, and indeed seems to be thriving. Sales are up and, more importantly, the console has a good, diverse selection of games, granting access to both AAA spectacle and infinitely replayable indies. We’re always keeping our eyes out what’s new and interesting on the Xbox One, and as such, we’ve compiled a list of the best games the console currently has to offer.

After two lackluster campaigns in Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, Electronic Arts and DICE finally managed to pull it all together and deliver the complete package in the World War I-themed Battlefield 1. Focusing on several soldiers’ experiences during the “war to end all wars,” the campaign delivers emotional, heartfelt moments that contrast with the large-scale, destructive warfare for which the series is known.

As polished and exciting as the campaign may be, multiplayer remains the real star of the show. Returning modes such as “Conquest” and “Rush” feel right at home in their World War I setting, with wide-open spaces, armored trains, heavy tanks, and “Behemoth” vehicles help create what is possible the most chaotic Battlefield game ever made. The new “Operations” mode, which takes teams across a series of multiplayer maps in an all-out, extended version of Conquest, is where Battlefield 1 is at its absolute best. The 64-player firefights see both teams clawing forward to try to get the advantage, while the game’s environmental destruction system sends buildings plummeting to the ground left and right. Read our full review here.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is the perfect introduction for Xbox One owners new to Microsoft’s console line. Containing the four numbered games in the series — sorry, Reach — it’s enough content to keep you busy for weeks on end. Halo 2: Anniversary, a remastered classic with new cinematics and sound effects, is an incredible game that occasionally even shows up Halo 5.

As you may have heard, Halo: The Master Chief Collection was a bit of a mess at launch, but the game’s server issues have stabilized. There are more than 100 maps to choose from, spanning from the original Halo to Halo 4, and though the majority are remastered versions of old favorites, a select few were rebuilt from the ground up specifically for the collection. Of course, if you’re like us, you’ll be spending all your time blowing your friends up in “Blood Gulch” anyway. Read our full review here.

Taking inspiration from Bloodborne, the studio’s PlayStation 4 exclusive, Dark Souls III speeds up the Souls series’ distinctive tough-as-nails combat, without sacrificing what made fans fall in love with the franchise in the first place.

Though Dark Souls III continues the series’ legendary difficulty, even the most menacing foes can be dispatched through a mixture of practice and patience. The loop of killing enemies, trading in their souls to upgrade your character, and venturing back into the unknown will keep you glued to your console for hours at a time. If you ever get really frustrated, you can always summon a stranger to join in on all the fun.

It’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing another game in the Dark Souls series from From Software and mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki, but we couldn’t be happier with Dark Souls III as a conclusion to the series. It’s the work of a genius who has only further refined his art over time, and a shining example of how to make a franchise successful without sacrificing the more “hardcore” gameplay elements. Read our full review here.

Inside, the spiritual successor to developer Playdead’s smash-hit platformer Limbo, is perhaps the strangest game available on the Xbox One. Its puzzle-solving gameplay blends elements of science-fiction with creepy, trial-and-error death traps, and emergent gameplay mechanics seamlessly into its narrative.

While just as nihilistic as Limbo, Inside‘s story contains an element of strange, twisted beauty that only Playdead can deliver. The unnamed protagonist — a small child who wears the only bright item of clothing — reacts with fear, anxiety, and determination to the events transpiring in this depressing world. By the end you may wonder, “what did this person do to deserve this?” And what did we do to deserve a game as refreshing as Inside? Read our full review here.

Id Software’s reboot of the iconic Doom franchise is a perfect example of how to adapt a classic game for a modern age without abandoning its roots. Returning to Mars and the depths of Hell, the game’s narrative is simple, but still manages to be a perfect nod to the ’90s. The original “Doomguy” returns, conveying emotion and a twisted sense of humor without saying a word. Flipping off your enemies has never felt so satisfying.

But if its combat didn’t deliver, Doom would have been forgotten as soon as it arrived. Fortunately, an arsenal of ridiculous weapons, such as the Super Shotgun and the BFG, make their glorious return, and an army of vicious demons provide a level of challenge not often seen in today’s shooters. The whole experience moves at blistering speed, too, forcing you to stay on your toes and rapidly switch between your weapons as demons swarm to your position.

Doom also features a small but very memorable selection of boss battles. Using every trick and strategy you’ve learned up to each fight, these high-intensity moments can end in your death with just a few slips of the thumbsticks. Yet, at the same time, finally conquering them will stand among your proudest gaming achievements. Read our full review here.

Overwatch has become nothing short of a phenomenon since it launched in May. The team-based “hero shooter” features a refreshing take on objective-based multiplayer action that emphasizes teamwork and strategy over brute force.

With a selection of more than 20 playable heroes, plus at least one additional character added for free through post-release updates, Overwatch encourages you to experiment with different styles of play. Though Soldier: 76 may appeal to longtime shooter fanatics and Reinhardt seems like the obvious choose for RPG lovers, you’ll quickly find that keeping teammates alive as Mercy or holding down a crowded area with Hanzo can be just as rewarding.

Recently, developer Blizzard also revealed a plan to make Overwatch a much more varied game than what was initially advertised. Its “main” mode is certainly a class-based shooter, but the addition of the “Lúcioball” — a take on soccer very similar to Rocket League — has turned the game into a very viable sports destination. With more surprises in store and a growing community of players, Overwatch may very well go from being the best multiplayer shooter of the year to the best multiplayer shooter of the decade. Read our full review here.

The prestige of the AAA game has faded in recent years as high-profile releases come out seemingly half-finished and riddled with bugs year after year. Amidst a plague of disappointing franchises and broken open-world games, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt emerged, a savior every bit as welcome as its weathered protagonist. Developer CD Projeckt Red’s commitment to its audience (a slew of updates and free DLC followed the game’s release) stands out at a time when most big games seem hastily assembled or even exploitative, but make no mistake: in any era, no matter how great, The Witcher 3 would stand out.

Following up on the events of The Witcher 2, the game follows the continuing adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter searching for his lost lover, Yennefer, and Ciri, the child they raised. Although its central plot offers a long and entertaining quest, there’s far more to the game than finding Geralt’s loved ones. The world is massive, dense with characters great and small who have their own problems they’d like Geralt to solve. Whether its exorcising a spirit haunting a village or helping a blacksmith rebuild his business, there are hundreds of little adventures to go on, and some even intersect in surprising ways.

The world of The Witcher is dark. An early scene finds Geralt riding into a war-torn province, the camera pulling back to reveal a massive tree from which prisoners of war have been hanged. It’s a grim image, and it sets the tone for much of what is to follow. Often the game will present choices that can have wide-ranging, unforeseen consequences. Not everyone gets a happy ending. Despite all the gloom, there are moments of warmth: an orphan reunited with relatives, drinking games with Geralt’s war buddies, a night of passion with an old flame. Wildly ambitious and epic in scope, The Witcher 3 is a watershed moment for role-playing games, setting a new gold standard the genre. Read our full review here.

Hideo Kojima is one of the few big budget auteurs in the games industry. After more than twenty years and a feud with publisher Konami, Kojima’s final game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, is hell of a note to end on, as MGSV refines the series’ signature stealth gameplay to near perfection, while expanding the the setting from confined military bases to an open world.

The Metal Gear series has a long and winding plot, but newcomers will find MGS V relatively easy to slide into, as Kojima has jettisoned much of the mythology in favor of a more straightforward revenge tale. Nine years after the events of the prequel Ground Zeroes, in which the mercenary crew led by protagonist Snake was destroyed by the mysterious organization Cipher, Snake awakens from a coma, missing an arm and under threat from assassins. After a harrowing escape from the hospital he’s been sleeping in (a nightmarish opening that shows off Kojima’s directing chops), Snake joins up with his old comrades to rebuild their mercenary army and take revenge on Cipher.

Although story has always been the main draw for Metal Gear, MGSV eschews lengthy cutscenes and monologues, instead focusing on open world gameplay that provides the player with countless ways to approach any mission. Tranquilizers, sniper rifles, shotguns, a remote controlled robot arm; all this and more is available, giving the game an endless sense of replay value. After completing a mission using a stealthy, nonlethal approach, one may feel the urge to replay the same mission, marching into an enemy outpost with a machine gun and a rocket launcher, burning the whole thing to the ground. Few games encourage experimentation like MGSV. Some questionable narrative choices aside, MGSV is a powerful ending to one of gaming’s most important franchises, setting a new bar for open-world gameplay. Read our hands on review here.

Crystal Dynamic’s 2013 reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise was a surprising accomplishment, reviving a franchise that had long been known more for titillation than gameplay. Reimagining iconic protagonist Lara Croft as a young archaeology student, the game took a more grounded approach to the adventure genre, requiring Lara to scavenge for supplies and try to survive harsh environments. The sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, builds on the foundation laid by the first game, with a more mature Lara building weapons from scrap and spelunking in some gorgeous tombs.

The tombs are perhaps the most notable feature. The reboot was light on ancient puzzles and grandiose booby traps, with players spending most of their time running through jungles. Rise makes up for this, scattering tombs big and small around the world for players to explore. This emphasis on puzzles and platforming make Rise feel action-packed without needing to throw hundreds of enemies at the player.

Which is not to say that the game lacks for combat. As in the first game, Croft is not the only person rummaging around ancient cities. In Rise, she is at odds with the mysterious organization Trinity, an order dedicated to unearthing supernatural artifacts, and one with no compunctions about killing intrepid archaeologists in their way. Lara has a variety of weapons at her disposal, including bows, knives, and guns. Lara can dispose of enemies quietly or run around guns blazing. This tactical freedom, as well as the game’s slick controls, makes combat in Tomb Raider a tense, thrilling experience. Read our full review here.

The first new game in the series in a generation, Gears of War 4 marks a return to the horror-influenced design of the original Gears of War, complete with plenty of spooky environments and a mysterious new threat. Seeing classic characters reunite with newcomers adds a layer of heart that was missing from the 2013 prequel Gears of War: Judgment, and with plenty of set pieces and the series’ excellent cover-based shooting.

Multiplayer fares even better, with each and every mode encouraging players to keep moving and engaging the enemy. The introduction of goofy weapons such as the ricocheting “Buzzkill” and the “Dropshot,” which can decimate players hiding behind cover, also create new opportunities for firefights that just aren’t possible in most cover-based shooters. This is on top of the new “yank” ability, which allows you to grab an enemy from cover and drive a knife into their throat. If anything screams “Gears” more than that, we don’t know what it is.

Whether you decide to venture into the campaign, play a few rounds of multiplayer, or try the latest iteration of “Horde” mode, you’ll also be experiencing one of the prettiest games on the Xbox One. Colors are vibrant and varied, marking a departure from the drab browns and grays of the original trilogy, and environmental effects look so good that you may accidentally get yourself killed as you stare in awe. Read our full review here.

Has any franchise fallen so far from grace as Alien? The original film is still held up as one of the greatest horror movies of all time, and the sequel set the template for pretty much any sci-fi action film that involves space marines. From those hallowed origins, however, the franchise has declined deeper and deeper into B-movie schlock. It seemed improbable that the franchise would ever be scary, or even competently made, again. Those fears were assuaged (and others rekindled) with the release of Alien: Isolation, a survival horror game that traps players aboard a derelict space station with the iconic xenomorph.

Recent horror games have experimented with preventing the player from fighting enemies, in stark contrast to older games (i.e. Resident Evil) that allowed players to mow down enemies with various guns, provided they had the ammo. Alien: Isolation splits the difference, providing players with weapons and tools that they can use to fight the various denizens of the station (rogue androids and human scavengers,) but the titular alien cannot be killed, only driven off at best. The alien is persistent, stealthy, and disturbingly quick, so players will need to keep their wits about them and keep an eye out for places to hide. Isolation is a harrowing experience, hopefully a blueprint for horror games to come. Read our full review here.

Replacing the dark, gloomy setting of Chicago with sunny, tech-heavy San Francisco, Watch Dogs 2’s attitude is decidedly lighter than the original. No longer are you playing as a vigilante out for revenge on those who wrong his family, but as a young, mayhem-causing hacker who believes that the underground “DedSec” organization is the best line of defense against increasingly invasive automation and surveillance systems. Hacker hero Marcus Holloway cracks jokes, taunts his enemies, and does backflips off of walls instead of just climbing down — he’s the polar opposite of Aiden Pearce, and that’s a very good thing.

The hacking tools offered in the original Watch Dogs have also been significantly expanded, allowing you to directly control other citizens’ (or the cops’) cars to cause chaos and a major distraction as you attempt to escape from a crime scene, and the “Profiler” tool has been enhanced, now letting you hack nearly every person you encounter. Read our full review here.

What is there to say about Fallout that hasn’t been said before? The latest game from Bethesda has everything one expects from their games: a massive open world, hundreds of ways to customize a character, quests and stories hidden in every nook and crannie, and of course an unfortunate (if funny) slew of bugs. Fallout 4 doesn’t reinvent the Bethesda formula, but it does build upon it in some interesting ways. As with Fallout 3 and New Vegas, the game drops players in the middle of a postapocalyptic wasteland with a big overarching goal (in this case, to find your kidnapped son.) From there, players are free to explore the world, doing whatever quests they feel like, and treating the wasteland like one big sandbox. There are guns to collect, mutants to fight, wacky characters to talk to (or murder, if that’s your thing.)

This should all sound familiar to fans of the series. Perhaps the biggest addition is that players can help build settlements, constructing homes, defenses, and other things a community needs to thrive in the wastes. The crafting system encourages obsessive scavenging, and provides a regenerative aspect to a series that has so often seemed bleak. Watching towns rise from the rubble provides a sense of hope, echoed by the relatively lush environments, where the gray and brown are tinged with fauna returning to the world. Fallout 4 won’t convert anyone who has disliked Bethesda’s past games, but veterans of the wastes will feel like coming home. Read our full review here.

The fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien, much like Star Wars and Marvel, seems less like a franchise and more an empire these days. From humble beginnings as fantasy novels, the series has spread into every medium: two epic film trilogies, one largely forgotten animated film, a colony in the Lego universe, and quite a few video games. The games have long been the weak link in the Tolkienverse, including passable brawlers, shoddy platformers, and a shockingly long-lived MMORPG. Given the glut of Middle-earth games, Shadow of Mordor only needed to be competent to stand out. The fact that it transcends expectations, crafting a fresh adventure with tight gameplay and an intriguing new system for designing enemies, makes it a delight.

Shadow of Mordor is an open world game, with many quests to complete and abilities to unlock. Taking a lot of cues from the recent Batman games, Shadow of Mordor often surround the player with enemies that have various abilities and weakness. The player has their own arsenal of tools, and fights develop a rhythmic quality as they progress; cut down one enemy, parry an incoming attack in time, roll out of the way of a sword and dispatch an orc with an arrow through the eye. The variety of weapons and fluid combat keep things interesting throughout the game.

While the combat and progression are well executed, the most compelling aspect of Shadow of Mordor is the nemesis systems. Among the hordes of enemies in the game are orc leaders, stronger named characters whom the player can kill or be killed by. Dying to an orc means they will become more powerful. Moreover, a rank-and-file orc who kills the player can be promoted to a leadership position. On the flip side, the player can wound or even manipulate the orc leaders. The game keeps track of the various leaders as well as their relationship to the player; an orc whose face you burned in a fight may have some choice words when next you meet. It’s a revolutionary system, giving life to enemies that would, in most games, simply be mindless mobs. Read our full review here.

One of the most interesting trends in indie games recently has been the rise of “roguelikes,” a genre named after the early PC game, Rogue. It’s a strange trend because the philosophy of rogue-likes seems so at odds with mainstream games, the most notable example being how death factors in. In most games, death is an inconvenience, a temporary setback, alleviated by systems like checkpoints. In rogue-likes, death is permanent, requiring players to start the game anew. One of the leaders of this resurgence has been The Binding of Isaac, a charming yet grotesque game from indie dev Ed McMillen, which has been iterated on a few times since its first release in 2011. BoI drops players in a procedurally generated dungeon, requiring them to survive numerous hazards and defeat bosses in order to descend further. There are randomly generated items to collect which provide a variety of odd abilities, as well as dramatically altering the player’s appearance.

It may be more accurate to describe The Binding of Isaac as a rogue-lite, as while death does end the player’s current run through the dungeon, new items and characters can be permanently unlocked, giving the game a sense of progression even in failure. This is a welcome mercy, as the game can be quite difficult, especially if the player is stuck with weak or double-edged items against the later bosses. However difficult it can get, the fun in BoI comes from making the most of what the game gives you, just managing to scrape by against the odds. Moreover, the random nature of the dungeon layout and items spawned means that the game has nigh infinite replay value. Read our full review here.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown remains one of the most difficult games released in the last decade, with its “permadeath” and unforgiving countdown system making for a stressful and hair-pulling experience. It’s apt-titled sequel, XCOM 2, makes that game look like Kirby’s Adventure. More powerful enemies, including upgraded “Sectoids” and the new “Viper” class, are capable of decimating your small squad in a single turn, and an increased emphasis on robotic warriors requires you to keep your squad’s weaponry balanced and ready for any situation.

Stressful as XCOM 2 can be, however, there is no greater feeling than finally completing a particularly tough mission and evacuating your squad to the safety of The Avenger. This mobile base allows you to research and build some truly dastardly creations, including plasma rifles, powered exosuits for your soldiers, and “Psionic” units that are capable of turning the occupying alien force against itself while the rest of your squad picks off the survivors. The attachment you’ll feel to your soldiers, particularly if you choose to rename them as your friends and family, will make every decision you make carry weight, and the late-game abilities your more experienced units can learn make a few of the game’s characters completely indispensable. Read our full review here.

The Forza Horizon series separates itself from other racing games with its increased emphasis on open-world exploration and best-in-class driving controls, and Forza Horizon 3 exemplifies this more than any other game in the series. This time around, the Horizon Festival is being held in the gorgeous and diverse country of Australia, in which you can race amid dense forest, the unforgiving outback, and metropolitan areas that rest beside the ocean. The entire country is a blast to explore, in large part because Forza Horizon 3 makes the most of its open world with challenges and events tailored for specific regions of the map. While most open-world games are full of “things to do,” you’ll actually want to do them here.

If you’re more interested in just jumping into a race and testing your skill against other drivers, Forza Horizon 3 is still a fantastic option. The return of the “Drivatar” system lets you challenge your friends, even when they’re not playing the game, and you can even draft them to form your own “team.” The “rewind” feature also accommodates newer drivers perfectly, letting you try the same stretch of a race over and over again until you understand how to execute a drift properly or avoid overshooting a turn. Once you’re ready to race with your friends, you’ll never want to play solo again — after all, the entire campaign is playable in multiplayer.

Music, particularly licensed tracks, often get overlooked in video games, but this would be a mistake with Forza Horizon 3. Given the game features tracks from the Descendents, Bad Religion, Pennywise, Aesop Rock, Beethoven, CHVRCHES, and dozens of other artists, it’s worth loading it up just to sit and listen to a few tunes. If you use Groove Music, you can even import your collection to create your own personal playlist. Read our full review here.

So much is made of the technical aspects of graphics, it is easy to forget how far a strong grasp of style can go. With striking watercolor backgrounds and character designs that evoke Miyazaki films, Ori and the Blind Forest is among the most beautiful games of this or any other generation, putting many AAA titles to shame. The sensuous visuals would suffice to make a great film, but a game needs gameplay, and Ori shines there as well. Inspired by classic games like Metroid, the game puts the player in control of the nimble forest spirit Ori, who must navigate a large 2-D world, collecting items and abilities that allow Ori to reach new areas. Certain abilities are necessary to complete the game and thus are easy to find, but there are many things hidden off the beaten path, rewards that adventurous players will find useful.

Despite its adorable protagonist, Ori and the Blind Forest is a viciously difficult game. Combat often requires the player to dodge numerous projectiles, pirouetting through the air as they fight enemies, and some sections add difficult platforming into the mix. Thankfully, the game is generous with checkpoints, a welcome gift from an otherwise harsh mistress. For those who long for the challenges of old-school games, Ori and the Blind Forest is a revelation, infusing Metroid’s style with modern sensibilities.

The Mortal Kombat series has always been more famous for its cartoonish violence (it was one of the games that led to the creation of the ESRB rating system) than for its gameplay. That’s a shame, as Mortal Kombat is one of the most consistently fun franchises in the fighting game genre. Mortal Kombat X, the sequel to 2011’s reboot of the franchise, represents a change in course for the series, replacing many of the series’ iconic characters with new faces, and mixing up the gameplay by adding a new version of the fighting styles system from Deadly Alliance. For those unfamiliar with the notorious franchise, Mortal Kombat pits two players against each other on a 2-D plane. There are more than 20 characters to choose from, each with a unique set of skills that can greatly alter how matches play out. Each character has three different “variations” which affect how they are played. For example, Scorpion’s Ninjutsu variation allows him to dual-wield swords, while his Hellfire variation gives him a suite of fiery attacks. The variations allow players to tailor their characters abilities based on their playstyle.

In addition to standard 1v1 fights, MKX has a number of different modes to keep players entertained. A lengthy story mode follows up on the events of the last Mortal Kombat, which left much of the cast dead with a new threat looming on the horizon. This time, the core cast are the children of the former protagonists. The Living Towers provides a series of odd challenges for players to complete, while the game’s Faction Wars provides a persistent online competition between players. For as much as Mortal Kombat refuses to grow up (the Fatalities only seem to grow more clownish with every installment,) MKX mixes things up in some interesting ways, a good sign for the series going forward. Read our full review here.

Originally released on the PC in 2014, Divinity: Original Sin was an attempt to resurrect the CRPG genre, bringing back the complex skill trees and character choices of classics like Baldur’s Gate, but more accessible to modern audiences. The experiment was a success, resulting in a game possessing incredible depth without being too difficult for beginners to grasp. For their next trick, developer Larian Studios decided to port the game to consoles, an astounding proposition that never should have worked out. Somehow, they made it work. Original Sin’s controls easily map to the XBOX controller, and the in-game text and menus have also transitioned well. The game’s dense world and quests are a rare sight on consoles.

Combat is a huge part of Original Sin, with an incredible mix of systems that makes every fight improvisational. In addition to the many abilities at their disposal, players can also use the environment to their advantage, such as by using a pool of water to spread an electric current. Likewise, players must be wary of how natural features can be used against them. Divinity’s combat is refreshingly deep, rewarding players who can learn its intricacies and think on the move. Perhaps the biggest draw for console owners is the addition of local multiplayer, a feature sorely lacking in console game these days. So robust is Original Sin’s multiplayer that both players can participate in dialogue. RPG fans who own an Xbox may have felt like they were wandering a desert the last couple years; for them, Divinity: Original Sin will be manna from heaven.